Page 50

Huo Jiu immediately retorted, "At your age, you don't understand the slightest bit of courtesy. But you're quite good at turning the tables."

Bai Yueling: "..."

Bai Yueling had failed to gain the upper hand after two exchanges. For a moment, she was somewhat stunned.

When Lu Manzhen had first returned to the Su family with this burden in tow, Bai Yueling had paid attention to the little bastard. She knew the child had long suffered domestic violence at his father's hands and had a timid yet violent temperament. She had not expected that after just a few days apart, he would become so sharp-tongued.

Lu Manzhen had endured Bai Yueling's barbed mockery for quite a while. Seeing her get shut down by Huo Jiu immediately refreshed her spirits.

It had to be said, as long as Huo Jiu's mouth was not being used to insult her, Lu Manzhen rather enjoyed watching him go after anyone else.

Su Shiyuan had also suffered at Huo Jiu's hands several times and could not be bothered to argue over verbal sparring. But the Bai mother and daughter were guests, and he could not simply watch Bai Yueling be left unable to save face. He promptly smoothed things over. "Sit down and eat first."

Before he had even finished speaking, Huo Jiu had already pulled out a chair and sat down.

Old Madam Bai was also studying Huo Jiu. Slowly, she said, "I heard that you're very dissatisfied with the Su family and the Bai family?"

"What have the Su family and the Bai family ever done that should satisfy me?" Huo Jiu tossed the question straight back at her.

Old Madam Bai asked in a deep voice, "We brought you back to the Su family and made you the second young master of the Su family. Isn't that enough?"

Huo Jiu gave a scornful laugh. "Do I care?"

Old Madam Bai choked on her words. She finally understood how her daughter had felt when she had been retorted into silence.

Old Madam Bai took a deep breath. She knew that, with Huo Jiu's ungrateful nature, he was unlikely to feel any gratitude toward the Su family or the Bai family. She could only put it another way. "In exchange for one bone marrow transplant, you'll have a lifetime of wealth and glory. You aren't losing out."

"Even without a bone marrow transplant, I still have more money than I can spend." Thinking of something, Huo Jiu smiled with blatant malice. "Heaven favors me. It was willing to give me an opportunity to get something for nothing and let me possess inexhaustible wealth."

"Even without the Su family, I can still enjoy a lifetime of wealth and glory. Why would I lose my mind and insist on taking a thief for my father and becoming someone else's grandson?"

Huo Jiu's words were always piercingly direct, without the slightest regard for anyone's dignity.

Old Madam Bai was silent for a long while before she said with difficulty, "I know you won a little money through the lottery. But if someone can only earn a bit of money through opportunistic tricks, that does not count as success, nor will they be respected."

"At least Old Master Cao of First-Rank Pavilion respects me." At this point, Huo Jiu looked at Su Shiyuan and deliberately asked, "I heard First-Rank Pavilion is somewhat at odds with your Su family?"

It was far more than somewhat at odds. First-Rank Pavilion looked down on the Su family's nouveau riche ways and had rejected Su Shiyuan's request for cooperation. It was gossip known to nearly everyone in the local business world.

Su Shiyuan's expression darkened somewhat. Old Madam Bai's expression was even worse. She had just said that Huo Jiu was uneducated and incompetent, only capable of buying lottery tickets, and that even if he had a little money in his pocket, he would not earn anyone's respect. Huo Jiu immediately used that old bastard Cao Ruzhang to slap Su Shiyuan in the face.

She looked down on Huo Jiu by relying on the power of the Su family and the Bai family, yet First-Rank Pavilion, which looked down on the Su family, regarded Huo Jiu differently. Cao Ruzhang had even personally visited the Su family to ask Huo Jiu to become First-Rank Pavilion's honorary consultant. Huo Jiu had merely turned him down.

Compared to that, what did Su Shiyuan amount to, when he had personally sought cooperation with Cao Ruzhang only to be rejected?

Old Madam Bai only felt a blockage in her chest. She had now thoroughly experienced Huo Jiu's sharp tongue.

"Mom, what's wrong?" Bai Yueling sat beside Old Madam Bai. Seeing her clutch her chest with a pained expression, she was immediately alarmed. "Is your condition acting up?"

As she spoke, Bai Yueling instructed Aunt Zhao to bring the heart medicine she always kept in her bag. Lu Manzhen rose to pour Old Madam Bai a glass of water and personally helped her take the medicine.

Only then did Old Madam Bai let out a breath.

Bai Yueling turned and glared furiously at Huo Jiu, unwilling to let the matter go. "You little bastard nearly made my mother sick from anger! If anything really happens to her, I won't let you off!"

Huo Jiu was unconcerned. "If your heart is bad, then stay home and cultivate your health. Don't run around picking fights with people. Don't think having an illness lets you throw your age around and scam people everywhere. If you really have that much spirit, why not go online and argue with those shameless foreign media outlets that distort black into white? If something really happens to you, at least you'll have died for your country."

Even if he argued with someone, Huo Jiu could use the bug of reloading the plot to bring them back. Even if something really happened, at worst he would pay more compensation. Money was the one thing Huo Jiu lacked least right now.

"You—"

Not only Old Madam Bai, even Bai Yueling nearly fainted from anger.

The mother and daughter could no longer remain at the Su family's home. They rose in a rage to take their leave. Before departing, they did not forget to lecture Su Shiyuan and Lu Manzhen, telling the couple to properly discipline Huo Jiu.

"An uncultured little wild bastard! A low-class little mongrel! Our Bai family will never acknowledge someone like this as the second young master of the Su family."

Lu Manzhen's expression changed. She turned back toward Huo Jiu and could not help complaining, "You child—"

Huo Jiu leisurely raised a brow and looked at Su Shiyuan with a puzzled expression. "Although I don't think much of the Su family either, and never intended to take a thief for my father, did you marry into the Bai family back then? Otherwise, why does the Su family need the Bai family's approval to acknowledge a son?"

Su Shiyuan frowned and warned in a deep voice, "Enough."

Huo Jiu chuckled. As he ate, he examined the Bai mother and daughter, his expression meaningful.

"I was wondering! Why are the Bai family making such a fuss over the Su family's private affairs, even more urgently than the Su family itself? So you've been treating the Su family's assets as your own. No wonder you mother and daughter came here and immediately tried to take over, acting so aggressively."

Seeing Huo Jiu's expression, Bai Yueling vaguely sensed that something was wrong. She could not help looking at Su Shiyuan and saying softly, "Brother-in-law, don't listen to his nonsense."

Then she roared at Huo Jiu, "Stop sowing discord here. You and Lu Manzhen, mother and son, are harboring evil intentions and want to bully Xiao Zhuo. Our Bai family will never let you succeed."